2008 Infiniti G35 Sedan

The G35 also has some of the best-designed and most comfortable bucket seats in its class. Anyone familiar with under-bolstered leather-upholstered performance cars - Mustang GT owners, for instance - know how slippery things can get during spirited driving. The G35 has none of those problems, and it manages to sidestep the main problem with aggressively-supportive sport seats, which can accommodate a range of body types. Everyone who sat in the front seats of our test car found them comfortable and supportive, from a stout 6’2” subject to a petite 5’7”.Not everyone will find the balance between ride quality and handling pleasing, though it's certainly more compliant than the 350Z. Our test car is the sport-oriented manual-transmission G35 6MT version, and its low-profile tires and 18-inch alloy wheels can make for a choppy ride over broken or bumpy pavement. The noise level is also good for a car in this class, with the engine barely perceptible except under hard acceleration. When the sweet-sounding six-cylinder is pushed, it makes its presence known but does not become intrusive.Compared to its ostensible peers, the BMW 3-series, Mercedes-Benz C-Class, Audi A4 and the like, the G35 shows a different balance of sport and luxury. While the German offerings all favor the luxury end of the spectrum in their typical configurations, the G35S 6MT is slanted heavily toward the driver's end of things. The Teutonic stalwarts reserve the truly driver-oriented cars for their upscale and expensive AMG, M Division and RS brands at a heavy premium.Without a performance division to offer an even more impressive car, the G35S with the manual transmission is the high-performance variant. It provides what many buyers cross-shopping the segment would consider a harsh ride, and it doesn't quite rise to the materials or equipment standards either. But that's what makes the G35 such a brilliant performer, and such a polarizing choice. The balance it strikes isn't for everyone, but for those that find it to their liking, the rewards are huge.In the end, the G35 presents a solid ombination of affordable luxury, good power and excellent performance, with only its relative age and lack of the ‘new factor’ holding it back from the top of the class.